Queer Books for Hindu Heritage Month
October is Hindu Heritage Month. We’re celebrating… with books (you’re shocked by this development, I’m sure). These eight works, some fiction, some non-fiction, explore Hindu themes, retell Hindu stories, and tell personal stories of being Hindu and queer. The contributors to the list are Dei Walker and Meera S.
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Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
“I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.”
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the worthy. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to the marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
Desperate for independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With it, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen.
But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.
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Me Hijra, Me Laxmi by Laxmi
He was born a boy, but never felt like one. What was he then? He felt attracted to boys. What did this make him? He loved to dance. But why did others make fun of him?
Battling such emotional turmoil from a very young age, Laxminarayan Tripathi, born in a high-caste Brahman household, felt confused, trapped, and lonely. Slowly, he began wearing women’s clothes. Over time, he became bold and assertive about his real sexual identity. Finally, he found his true self—she was Laxmi, a hijra.
From numerous love affairs to finding solace by dancing in Mumbai’s bars; from being taunted as a homo to being the first Indian hijra to attend the World AIDS Conference in Toronto; from mental and physical abuse to finding a life of grace, dignity, and fame, this autobiography is an extraordinary journey of a hijra who fought against tremendous odds for the recognition of hijras and their rights.
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Dulhaniyaa by Talia Bhatt
Esha Arora is the last person anyone would have expected to acquiesce to an arranged marriage. Outspoken, opinionated and forward-thinking, she has made her thoughts on these archaic institutions known to anyone who’d lend her an ear. To her traditional family’s surprise and joy, however, when a good rishta for her hand comes along, Esha agrees to abruptly quit her MFA program in the States and returns to India to be wed. Her mother wastes neither time nor expense in preparing for the most bombastic wedding money can afford—she has more than a few friends to outdo and impress, after all!
In the pursuit of extravagance, Esha’s mother arranges a dance instructor for her, to train her to perform a Bollywood-style, choreographed dance routine at the wedding, as is en vogue. Despite Esha’s lack of enthusiasm, her mother will not be swayed. Knowing that the wedding isn’t actually about her wishes, Esha reluctantly agrees, deciding that if she’s going to put on a show for her relatives, she might as well put on a good one.
That’s when Billu, a cyclone in a salwar and dance instructor extraordinaire, bursts into the dull monotony of Esha’s pre-wedding existence. To her shock and delight, Esha finds herself enjoying her lessons with Billu, in addition to every other moment with her that she finds herself trying to steal away. Slowly, it begins to dawn on Esha that she isn’t nearly as resigned to her marital fate as she once thought—but can she un-make a commitment to her family so easily? Will she be able to confess her feelings to Billu before the latter exits her life, or will she be consigned to her role of dulhaniyaa?
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Queering Constellations: Mapping This Journey Called Life by Raja Bhattar
Queering Constellations is an interactive memoir of a queer Hindu Buddhist immigrant told through letters, poetry, art, and stories. Spanning Raja’s unique experiences that touch on universal themes of love, loss, pleasure, and self-acceptance, this book engages the reader to reflect on their own journey through a unique constellation of how to read the book: coloring the art within and engaging the writing prompts, breaking the barrier between book and reader.
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Valmiki’s Daughter by Shani Mootoo
In Valmiki’s Daughter, critically acclaimed and best-selling novelist Shani Mootoo returns to the style — and some of the themes — she first explored in her breakout book, Cereus Blooms at Night. Mootoo introduces readers to the Krishnus, a well-to-do Trinidadian family firmly ensconced in the strict social hierarchy of the island. In this story of family secrets, patriarch Valmiki conceals a painful fact about his sexual identity while his youngest, the lively and intelligent Viveka, struggles to come to terms with a painful secret connected to her sexual identity. As Valmiki’s and Viveka’s secrets threaten to shake the foundations of the family, this beautifully written and hypnotically paced novel explores the complex interaction of race, gender, class, and sexuality in a closed society.
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Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India by Serena Nanda
This ethnography is a cultural study of the Hijras of India, a religious community of men who dress and act like women. It focuses on how Hijras can be used in the study of gender categories and human sexual variation.
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The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Taking us back to a time that is half history, half myth and wholly magical, bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni gives voice to Panchaali, the fire-born heroine of the Mahabharata, as she weaves a vibrant retelling of an ancient epic saga.
Married to five royal husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom, Panchaali aids their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war. But she cannot deny her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna—or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands’ most dangerous enemy—as she is caught up in the ever-manipulating hands of fate.
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Red Lipstick: The Men in My Life by Laxmi & Pooja Pande
The world keeps taunting him as girlish but the fact is that, biologically, he is a boy. And, he is always attracted to guys. Is Laxmi both a man and a woman? Or, perhaps, neither a man nor a woman? The first inklings and stirrings of lust that Laxmi remembers came from noticing big, strong arms, the hint of a guy’s moustache over his lips, billboards that advertised men’s underwear. Laxmi found this puzzling initially. Was there a woman inside him who couldn’t really express herself because of some last-minute mix-up that god did at the time of his birth? Struggling with such existential questions, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, eminent transgender activist, awakens to her true self: She is Laxmi, a hijra. In this fascinating narrative Laxmi unravels her heart to tell the stories of the men-creators, preservers, lovers, benefactors, and abusers-in her life. Racy, unapologetic, dark and exceptionally honest, these stories open a window to a brave new world.
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Find these books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page (sadly, most of these are not available on Bookshop.org, sigh).
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